Webinar Series: “How to Pitch and Get Funded”

If you missed the webinar on “How to Pitch and Get Funded Using LivePlan,” you can still watch it below. Caroline Cummings, our resident entrepreneur, shares the tips she’s used to raise nearly $1M for her previous startups. You can also download a free copy of Caroline’s eBook on building a successful investor pitch. Enjoy!

After the webinar, we took your questions on LivePlan and small business fundraising. You can read those here:

Q: I have been told the Balance Sheet should equal “0” when assets, liabilities and owner’s equity is included. How do I show that in LivePlan?

A: I think you’re referencing the fact that for a balance sheet to “balance”, assets = liabilities + capital (i.e. equity) and LivePlan does show this. In LivePlan you can compare Total Assets to Total Liabilities and Equity, and they should always balance.

Q: Are their plans to attach a video to the pitch section of LivePlan, similar to Kickstarter project videos to gain interest in the visual form?

A: Yes, we will soon be adding a video embed feature to the Pitch page.

Q: Question: In FINANCIALS SALES FORECAST the years are preset from 2006-2011. Can I change those dates.? How were those parameters set? I need to forecast to 2017.

A: When you set up your plan you set the date for when to start. Five years is the maximum that can be forecasted. This should be a forward-looking plan so if you want to include 2017 you should set your start date for 2012. To change that setting click on the ‘Settings’ gear to the right of ‘Scoreboard’.

Q: How do I add a contributor to my account?

Q: If you have more than one plan can you send someone a link to just that plan without them seeing the other?

A: Yes, when you invite someone as a guest to your plan you are only granting them access to a specific plan, not your entire account. You can also elect not to share your Scoreboard if you chose to do so.

Q: Are guests set up as Read-Only?

A: Guests can not edit any part of your Pitch, Plan or Scoreboard, but they can post comments to each section of your Plan.

Q: The “problem” and “solution” fields on the LivePlan Pitch are very short — can field characters be made “slightly” longer, maybe more than a few sentences?

A: We have purposely limited the characters in these fileds so you can hone in on the most important content. You can always provide more detail in your full business plan.

Q: How do we invite guests into LivePlan?

Q: Do you now have the capability to use the QuickBooks version that is not in the cloud but on the desktop?

A: Yes, QuickBooks for Windows (installed on the desktop) is the version of QuickBooks that currently integrates with LivePlan. Here are the insturctions for how to connect your QuickBooks account to your LivePlan Scoreboard.